a runaway table

As a person who likes making paper furniture, I was very attracted to the idea of a picture book about a writer's table that does a runner and returns to the woods to reclaim its former life as a tree. This charming fable by Franciszka and Stefan Themerson, members of the Polish avant-garde movement in the1930s, was first published in a Polish expatriate newspaper in Paris in 1940, and subsequently as a book in 1963. Tate Publishing have now produced an English translation of the original text, which includes an account of the earlier publications, as well as other work by the Themersons, discussed in an informative note at the end. 

The playful combination of collage elements, print, and curvy typography is really lovely, and the result is a beautiful piece of book design.  Here are a selection of the illustrations:

I bought this hardback copy from the Auckland University Bookshop last week and it cost $17.95. I think it would make a lovely gift, but this copy is for my own collection. I just hope that my paper table doesn't get any ideas about escaping. I'll have to keep my eye on it.

Painted plate by Kelly Pretty and sculpture by Graham Fletcher from the series, The Eternals, 2007.